I have owned several cars fitted with ABS, and not once have I ever thought about it, Until tonight, driving home along dodgy surfaces my brakes would make a horrible grinding noise and the brake pedal vibrated heavily added to the fact the car didnt seem to be stopping - scared me to blinking death - tip toed home holding the traffic back - got in the house - straight to user manual - ABS - and there it is Quote - "ABS will make the brake pedal vibrate and there will be some noise - Please be aware that stopping distances on ice / snow will increase - please allow more time for braking" --- LESSON LEARNED - so if you didnt know it - you know it now...

Smee, I was doing approx 10mph approaching traffic lights out in the sticks when it first happened, ABS, its something ordinary drivers dont think about - I carry a passenger - also long time driver he owns a GTI Golf and he had never witnessed it b4 either.

Smee, the roads I used 2nite were like glass and out in the countryside - not 'A' roads, however, is ABS a standard safety device fitted across all makes / models or do manufacturers tweak settings/sensitivity etc, also my car does not have ESP..

How to drive in snow: plan ahead and keep things smooth - real smooth. Braking harshly or steering quickly WILL get you into a whole heap of trouble. If it does go tits up, boot it (works most of the time)

NOOOooooooo. I did not brake too hard !! from 10mph ????? on a flat road !!!!!! NOOOOOoooooo I did not brake too hard, The ABS probably came in cos loss of traction - front wheel drive - hits ice - wheels start to spin as I brake... ABS thinks - chuffin hell - I had better kick in and make things a whole lot worse... and frighten the S*hit out the driver to boot - I actually thought I was going to overrun the blo*dy junction - ABS is scary when not expected..

ABS doesnt always kick in with locked wheels, it can with slipping wheels that are not fully locked, and its ferociousness does vary from one car to the next. In general it is fairly acceptable to suggest you probably are going too fast for conditions if it kicks in. My 306 ABS kicks in FAR too early and makes the car virtually unstoppable from about 5mph in even a hint of slush. Approach the same junction again with the fuse pulled and you have no problems stopping whatsoever. While in proper snow and ice conditions I would personally pull the ABS fuse to regain full car control, this is a dangerous thing to do if you're driving on a mixture of wet/snowy/slippy roads.

Still, I'm biting and the trolls are now going to get me - maybe I should get that coffee!

I should mention that ABS sensor systems vary vastly, some cars only monitor the 2 front wheels, some monitor all 4 but only treat the two rear as one entity etc.

Likewise some ABS systems "actuate" or pulse all channels at the same time, some just the fronts, some do wheel-at-a-time control, depending on how new and advanced they are. The worst are cheap-car ABS systems that, IME, tend to just assume some wheel is slipping and start pulsing one end of the car rather than one channel. Decent ones, BMW from memory, seem to do channel at a time and are very sure-footed. I'm not sure any manufacturer specifies what sort of ABS they fit though, without digging through the manufacturers manuals.

Definitely not a comment directly on the OP but this is maybe another point in favour of resitting driving tests every five years or so. ABS and the way it feels was covered in my driving lessons when we did emergency stops and from memory it was in the theory test too.

For what it's worth, I remember reading a news item recently that said a very large percentage of people get freaked out the first time ABS kicks in. In many cases, the experience is such a shock that the drives immediate reaction is to release pressure from the brake pedal, thus exasperating the problem.

Neverfastenuf - ABS will kick in in a heartbeat even at speeds lower than 10 mph with very little brake force if you driving on sheet ice.

All this commentary about you breaking too hard etc, well yes, maybe, but heck we're not all Michael Schumacher and that, after all, is what we have ABS for.

Take heart my friend - you arrived home safe. Which is surely the moral of this tale!

I have a newer Civic and the ABS seems more eager than my other 2 cars.
I'd echo the you were driving too fast for the conditions though. Mine came on at least 4 times this morning at 10mph or less due to ooh snow and ice.